Worship Times:
Sundays
9:30 am
From the Pastor |
Dear Friends,
Summer is here! I'm always sure it will never come.and then.boom! It's
here, almost overnight it seems. The rhythm of our lives seems to change overnight, too; we all do everything we can to get outside, to enjoy the beauty of summer after the long never-ending winter. I hope that all of you have plenty of opportunities to celebrate God's goodness in the wonder of his creation. I hope that you have times of laughter and rest with family and friends. I hope that we have just the right combination of sun and clouds, rain and long warm days. I hope that while we're all enjoying summer, we remember to thank God for his wonderful blessings.
We've had one week now of our new summer schedule. It felt strange to me to arrive at ERPC an hour later than I normally do on Sundays, but it was great to be all together at one service, and I'm looking forward to worshipping as one congregation for the rest of the summer. It will be great to see all of us make new friends!
I was searching the internet for a summer story to share with all of you, and this one caught my eye, from Michael Martin, of Ann Arbor, Michigan: My father was from eastern Tennessee and my mother from northern Mississippi, but this is a story that happened on the other end of the mountains, up in Vermont.
We have some close friends who spend their summers in the same town in Vermont as does Paul Newman. The lady of the family got up very early one Sunday morning to take a long walk and to go bird watching. When she got back home, it was just 8 a.m. and the rest of the family was still sleeping, so she decided to run into town and gratify this craving she had for something cold and sweet by going to the bakery shop, which was also the ice cream shop, and get a double ice cream dip. She hopped into the car, drove into town, which was completely empty at this time, and parked in front of the Ice Cream and Bakery Shop.
The only other customer there was Paul Newman, sitting at the counter eating a doughnut and having coffee. She thought to herself, this is no big deal, it's his town, too, and this poor man is entitled to his privacy just like anyone else. So I'll not make a big deal out of this. I'll just go up and get my ice cream cone like he is any other person in the world.
And she did.
She nodded to Paul Newman, put her two dollars on the counter and ordered her double-dip of ice cream. And after she completed the transaction, she walked on out, got to the car, and realized that she had a handful of change but no ice cream.
She thought she had just taken her change and left, so she went back inside expecting to see the ice cream cone in a little holder, or in the hand of the clerk, or something. She went over and was about to tell the clerk what happened, but glanced over at Paul Newman, who broke into this wonderfully friendly, warm grin and said, 'You put it in your purse.' (Loyal Jones and Billy Edd Wheeler, eds. Hometown Humor, USA: Over 300 Jokes and Stories From the Porch Swings, Barber Shops, Corner Cafes and Beauty Parlors of America, Little Rock, Ark.: August House, 1991, 140-41.)
Enjoy sunshine and ice cream and God's glory, everyone! See you at 9:30!
Blessings in Christ,
Piper
